Growth & Jobs | Entrepreneurs targeted as Mallskape E-Commerce platform eyes Jamaican expansion

Incorporated in 2012, the New York, USA-based Mallskape e-commerce platform is seeking to expand its reach in Jamaica and the Caribbean, in anticipation of a growth in entrepreneurs as of next year.

In January 2022 when a Jamaican television station interviewed persons from a local company, Herness Beauty, which utilises the Mallskape e-commerce platform, many Jamaicans were hearing about the platform for the first time.

Currently, businesses in several parishes across Jamaica, including Kingston, St Catherine, St James, Portland, Hanover, St Elizabeth, and Clarendon, use the platform to do business, several of them utilising the app.

Mallskape offers powerful end-to-end solutions for businesses that can now get their own fully operational website and storefront on the IOS/Android mobile app, which is fully integrated with the Stripe payment processing platform. As a result, businesses in Jamaica and indeed the wider Caribbean can now easily conduct transactions globally via the Mallskape platform.

“Mallskape empowers businesses to operate independently by listing products on their storefront for their customers in multiple currencies with no listing cost,” the company says in a release. “This assists in increasing their footprint in the marketplace both locally and internationally.”

It says that the micro, small, and medium enterprise sector represents 70 to 85 per cent of Caribbean businesses and contributes between 60 to 70 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) while employing approximately 50 per cent of the population so numerous lives will be made better by this infrastructure.

“As a result of this, a positive shift for entrepreneurs is expected within the first quarter of 2024. With equal focus being placed on both customer and merchant experience, Mallskape facilitates independent fulfilment of orders made on the platform.”

It added: “Merchants are able to enlist the services of their preferred couriers and use the Mallskape Rider App to deliver orders made by their customers. All orders delivered through the Rider App offer real-time tracking to both merchants and customers.”

Mallskape says plans are presently in motion to open Mallskape Fulfilment locations to aid in additional delivery options. The Mallskape team has members from all across the world with some still residing in the Caribbean, the company points out.